The Revealing Nature of Ink
by ForeverShippingJohnlock
Summary: When Elizabeth gets the idea to write thank you letters for the servants, Ciel is dragged into it. She suggests writing a letter to the person who does the most for him. And who is that, you may ask? Why, Sebastian, of course!


The Revealing Nature of Ink

"I feel the need to point out how patently ridiculous this is," Ciel grumbles as he sits across from Lizzy at his writing desk.

If Lizzy didn't have the assiduous training of decorum for proper Victorian ladies, she would have rolled her eyes. "Oh, Ciel, it'll be fun!"

"I believe you and I have very different definitions of the word, Elizabeth."

Lizzy placed a pile of envelopes and letter stock on the desk between them. "At least do one! The servants deserve to be appreciated from time to time, they do so much for us."

"Yes, because that's what they're paid to do," Ciel rebuts, unimpressed.

Lizzy juts out her lower lip a little and looks pleadingly at her fiancé, "Please, Ciel? Just one? Do it for me, pretty please?"

Ciel sighs, "Fine. But only one."

"Excellent! You should write one for Sebastian! He does the most for you, after all. You can write Sebastian's while I write Paula's."

"Very well," Ciel says wearily, not feeling up to the inevitable argument if he refuses. It's not like he'll be actually giving it to Sebastian, anyhow. That would be humiliating, and Ciel knows Sebastian would tease him about it endlessly in that infuriatingly subtle way of his.

Lizzy hands him a piece of paper and he begins to write.

 _Sebastian,_

 _Elizabeth seems to think it necessary for me to convey my gratitude for all that you do. Little does she understand that you are contractually obligated (in more ways than one) to obey my orders and, as I recall, gratitude was never part of the deal. But, since I won't even be sending this infernal letter, I have to look like I'm at the very least writing something. So, I suppose I shall indulge my fiancé and endeavor to express my thanks._

 _As much as I utterly loathe to admit it, the completion of your duties as my butler are, for the most part, impeccable. This is probably due to your insufferable aesthetic, but I have little qualms with it as it benefits my well-being. Your cooking is delicious, even if you won't always let me have cake when I want it. You perform my morning and nightly routines to my satisfaction, however convinced I am that your attempts to scald me with bathwater were on purpose. Your tutoring – though entirely tyrannical – proves successful (my abysmal German accent notwithstanding). In short, you take on the duties meant for a whole household staff and, though you are more… equipped… than most, it is still rather admirable. Not to mention completely necessary – what would become of the Phantomhive manor if we left Finny, Bard, and Mey-Rin unsupervised? Perish the thought._

Ciel looks at Lizzy out of his peripherals and finds her unbelievably still writing the same letter, already on her third full page. Not to be outdone, Ciel breathes a sigh and digs deeper within himself before once again lifting his pen.

 _I suppose I cannot write a letter expressing my gratitude without mentioning the most obvious reason for my thanks. That is to say, saving my life. Not only when we met, but the multitude of times since then (though, your cavalier attitude before the aforementioned saving is not exactly a comfort). You had no choice in those instances, but you were under no such obligation the first time, and for that, I thank you. One could argue that the price I paid for my freedom is more than enough, but you have my thanks nonetheless._

Ciel pauses a long moment, debating with himself, before remembering that this letter will never be sent. So, he continues.

 _There are extra things that you do as well, though it is not easy for me to admit. When the darkness that surrounds my life becomes too much for me, it is you who is there without fail. You're there when I need you to be, and you're not when I don't. Sometimes I amuse myself by wondering how the one person who truly understands me right down to my very soul, is the one person without one himself. When I have a nightmare, you're there with warm milk, but never a prying question on your lips. When I ask you to stay by my side until I fall asleep, you never chide my childishness._

 _You're the only one who does that, you know. You're the only one who never treats me like a child. My fiancé, my staff, my enemies, what's left of my family, even the Queen herself. They all treat me like a child, but I'm not. And I don't say that in the stubborn way in which a child normally would – with a whine and perhaps a stamp of the foot. No, it is merely a statement of fact. I ceased to be a child the moment the cage door locked. There is no room for childhood in inevitable damnation. There is, however, a certain bizarre comfort found in that simple fact. Ultimately, you are the one to thank for that._

 _You couldn't just be happy with the one label, could you? You had to be both condemner and savior. Then again, knowing the size of your ego, I don't know why I'm surprised._

 _Ciel_

Ciel scratches the last few lines hastily and signs his name at the bottom, feeling almost angry with himself for revealing too much. Ciel hasn't the time or patience for the weakness so often found in sentimentality.

And in speaking of sentimentality, the physical embodiment of it that currently sits across from him is just drawing the small heart that she uses to dot the "I" in her name.

"There! All done," Lizzy pronounces, laying her pen down.

"Mine is completed as well," Ciel replies in a monotone.

Lizzy claps her hands together in delight, "Excellent! Would you like me to look it over for you?"

"No!" Ciel responds far too quickly. He tries to smooth it over, "I mean, it's… private."

"That's all right, I understand," she says.

They both place their letters inside their envelopes, licking them shut and writing the name of the recipient on the outside.

As if on cue, Sebastian chooses that exact moment to walk in.

"Good afternoon, my lord and lady. I just came to inform you that tea will be ready shortly. I've taken the liberty of preparing it in Miss Elizabeth's parlor."

"Yes, that will be all," Ciel says, unable to look Sebastian in the eyes. He glances at Lizzy who is widening her eyes and smiling, tilting her head in Sebastian's direction in a manner most unsubtle. She glances at the envelope and back at Ciel meaningfully, all expectation.

Sebastian leaves and Lizzy looks disappointed. Her gaze swivels from Ciel to the empty doorway Sebastian had just left vacant, a mischievous glint suddenly alighting her bright green eyes.

Before he could even think to do anything, Lizzy is out of her chair and running to the door, Ciel's letter clasped in her hand.

"Excuse me, Sebastian! Ciel forgot to give you something!" Ciel hears her call down the hall. The young earl's already pale skin blanches even further and he rockets out of his chair, chasing after his ridiculous – though well-meaning – fiancé.

"Sebastian, you are not to read that letter! Do you hear me? That's an order!"


End file.
